FARMINGTON – The Board of Selectmen approved buying a new cruiser and two in-car video systems for the Police Department on Tuesday night.
A bid was accepted from Rowe Auburn for a new Crown Victoria police cruiser for $17,679 with trade-in of the 2001 cruiser. Police Chief Richard Caton III had requested bids from 13 area dealers. The next-closest bid came from Augusta Ford at $17,840.
Also given the go-ahead for the Police Department was the purchase of two in-car video systems.
A photo identification card system, for all municipal employees and people with concealed weapons permits, using Homeland Security grant money also got approval. The total grant was $27,280.64. If both items are approved by the federal government, it would leave a total of $770 from the grant to be used before September.
Selectmen also awarded a contract to Bouffards’s Furniture to tile the entrance to the community center at a cost of $1,110, more than $300 less than the next most competitive bid.
The board signed a resolution in support of the Community Development Block Grant program, which is slated for slashing by the Bush administration. Grant money from this program has aided Farmington with upgrades of water and sewer lines, downtown revitalization, economic development programs and elderly housing projects. It is versatile and benefits citizens and taxpayers directly, Town Manager Richard Davis said.
“If a town gets it, it really makes a difference to a lot of people,” agreed Chairwoman Mary Wright.
Selectmen agreed to accept an offer to purchase the sewer department’s old sludge truck for $1,000 and signed a memorandum of support for amendments to the charter of the Farmington Village Corporation, which oversees the town’s municipal water.
Also approved were:
• A liquor license for Front Street Tavern. Its owners said this year had probably been the best of the past five years, in terms of the level of required police service. The tavern is owned by Charles P. Williams, Kenneth R. McCahan and Bruce E. Hanson.
• A liquor license for The Golf Club, a new indoor video golf facility owned and operated by Gregory E. Roux at 218 Fairbanks Road. It expected to be open late August.
• A license to operate bingo, beano or other games of chance at the Farmington Fair by the Maine Good Sam Club.
• A request by the Sandy River Farmers’ Market to use Front Street parking lot for the summer of 2005.
Davis informed selectmen that a $10,000 gateways grant to beautify the triangular lot at Water and Bridge streets and Wilton Road was denied. The state’s Department of Transportation had money for 25 projects throughout the state, and Farmington was not one, he said.
Selectmen also discussed awarding a replica of the Boston Post gold-headed cane to Farmington’s oldest resident, who will be presented with it soon. Although the resident’s name was discussed, selectmen requested that the media withhold the recipient’s name until a presentation could be made.
Wright was re-elected chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night, with Charles Murray vice chairman and Dennis Pike secretary.
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